KATMANDU, Nepal – An official says Nepal's labor minister has stepped down after being asked by the prime minister to resign for allegedly seeking bribes for registering private companies offering jobs abroad.

Such companies are mushrooming in Nepal with thousands of younger Nepalese seeking jobs in the oil-rich Gulf and other countries.

Prashant Lamichhane, a media officer in the prime minister's office, said Sunday that Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai asked for Labor and Employment Minister Kumar Belbase's resignation after television news channels showed clips of one of his aides asking job agencies' representatives for more than 250,000 rupees ($3,000) each to register their business.

The minister sent his resignation on Saturday to the prime minister and it has been accepted, Lamichhane told The Associated Press.